INDIANAPOLIS — Competitive eater and Westfield resident Joey Chestnut won the 2024 St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail Eating Contest on Saturday afternoon.
Chestnut downed 21 pounds of shrimp during the competition. His total set a new record for the St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail Eating Contest.
Chestnut finished ahead of second-place Patrick Bertoletti, who ate 14 pounds of shrimp during the competition. Miki Sudo finished third in the contest.
Chestnut, Bertoletti and Sudo came into the Saturday's contest as the first, second and fifth-ranked competitive eaters in the world, respectively.
With his win on Saturday, Chestnut snapped a two-year losing streak he had suffered in the St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail Eating contest. Chestnut narrowly lost to Geoff Esper in 2023 and finished fourth in 2022 behind Esper, Sudo and Nick Wehry.
"It feels great," Chestnut said of his victory on Saturday. "Last couple years I didn't win. The best thing about losing is when you come back and you win. That's the only good thing about it. It feels great to be back on top. The crowd was pushing me, and the shrimp was delicious. I put in some work prior to this ... I was really hoping to break a record, and I did."
Before the 2022 and 2023 St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail Eating contests, Chestnut had won the event eight times in a row.
Chestnut is best-known for his dominance in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. He has won the event more than a dozen times, and he owns the record for most hot dogs eaten in a single contest at 76.
Chestnut was barred from competing in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2024 because he agreed to a partnership deal with Impossible Foods, a company that makes plant-based hot dogs and burgers.
After he was banned from the contest, Chestnut agreed to take on Takeru Kobayshi in a Labor Day hot dog eating contest. During that competition, which was streamed on Netflix, Chestnut ate 83 hot dogs.
Chestnut competed against nine other challengers in Saturday's shrimp cocktail eating contest. Five of the contestants Chestnut faced were ranked inside the top 15 in the world in competitive eating.
"Everybody that came out and yelled at me and cheered me on, thank you so much," Chestnut said. "Without the people cheering me on, I wouldn't have been able to push so hard. Competitive eating is a fun, kind of weird thing. I love it, and I'm happy other people are able to embrace it a little bit."
St. Elmo Steak House, a downtown Indianapolis culinary staple, steamed Saturday's event on its Facebook page. A replay of the event is available here.